[EBH]

Very short blub that may be worth noting.

[EBH]

Court delays Yucca ruling
http://www.aikenstandard.com/story/080812-yucca-mountain-nuclear-

An appeals court is putting off deciding whether to force the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to act on the Yucca Mountain site’s long-pending license application.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit announced on Friday it will wait up to four months to rule on a petition ordering the NRC to approve or disapprove the application because the Commission reports it does not have sufficient funds to conduct a review.

The petition to the court - a writ of mandamus - seeking to compel NRC to act was filed last year by Aiken County.

Circuit Court Judge Brett Kavanaugh, in his concurring opinion, wrote, “The parties’ submissions reveal that granting mandamus now would entail significant expenditures of government resources. But Congress’s upcoming appropriations decisions would well affect whether those expenditures are necessary.”

The court gave the NRC until ?Dec. 14 to report back whether Congress has allocated the funding the Commission says it needs, more than the $10.4 million it already has.

Aiken County filed the writ of mandamus in response to the Department of Energy’s attempt to abandon the license application pending before NRC on the proposed repository for used nuclear waste. NRC received the application roughly three years ago, but has not yet ruled on it, even though the 1987 Nuclear Waste Policy Act says it is bound to determine if Yucca Mountain is suitable.

The parties that initiated the lawsuit have voiced concerns that, if the federal government abandons the Yucca Mountain nuclear waste repository, the only congressionally approved site for permanently disposing of the nation’s spent nuclear waste will be lost.

Read more: Court delays Yucca ruling | Aiken Standard
Under Creative Commons License: Attribution

[DManA]

Everyone who uses electricity payed for the construction of a perfectly marvelous waste depositary.

Thank you you giant PIG Harry read for highhandedly screwing us all.

[EBH]

NRC puts new nuclear reactor permit on hold http://citizensvoice.com/news/nrc-puts-new-nuclear-reactor-permit-on-hold-1.1355902 The Nuclear Regulatory Commission placed an indefinite hold on the final permit for PPL's proposed new nuclear reactor in Salem Township while spent fuel storage issues are resolved. Neil Sheehan, NRC regional public affairs officer, said the presidentially appointed commission that oversees the NRC asked the agency Tuesday to hold off deciding on any pending new reactor or relicensing applications, including the Susquehanna nuclear power plant. He said staff reviews of the new reactor and license renewal applications will continue, but no final decisions will be made until storage issues are resolved. PPL representatives said the company is not concerned, because it will take another two years to complete the application for the new plant, which they're not even sure they'll build. The NRC's decision would affect PPL's application for a new reactor at Bell Bend, near the Susquehanna plant. Joseph J. Scopelliti, Susquehanna's community relations manager, said the utility will continue the process of fulfilling requirements to complete the operating license application, which started in late 2008. "There are many activities as part of that process, and we expect that it will take until 2014 to complete," Scopelliti said. "Also, the design of the plant for the Bell Bend project … is also undergoing a certification process and has not been certified yet. "We have not made a final decision on whether to build the plant or not, but have decided to continue the process of obtaining the (license application)." The petitions are tied to a recent D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals' ruling involving the NRC's Waste Confidence Decision update. The court returned the matter to the NRC for further consideration. In its decision, the commission said while it hasn't determined how it will respond to the court,

[Moonman62]

We’re better off generating power from fossil fuels, anyway.

[theBuckwheat]

This is an urgent issue of mass public safety. There are a number of reactors in the US that store their spent fuel in a manner similar to the design at Fukushima. Should any of these spent fuel pools lose cooling, we can expect a similar catastrophe.

The federal government’s handling of the proper storage of spent nuclear fuel has been criminal.

[AU72]

Use NASA to rocket our nuke waste into the sun. Thanks to Obama they don’t have anything better to do.

[Thunder90]

This is EXACTLY what Obama wanted.

[octex]

Yucca mountain was specifically designed to store the material. Why not do so and then build facilities nearby to recycle the material; thus creating jobs that Nevada sorely needs? ....France has recycled such material for years and it’s a safe and successful process.

[JimRed]

IIUC, that “waste” can be reprocessed for use again and again. France can do it, but we can’t?

[aruanan]

Geez, just allow reprocessing of spent fuel rods and the problem is largely resolved. Shoot the rest of the high level wastes off to burn up in the sun.

[SuziQ]

Bump for later reading